Trust
by A Wanderer in the Snow
Summary: Third in a Marauders Series, sequel to Convictions and Hesitation. James and Lily return to Hogwarts for their Seventh Year, each broken in their own way, only to find that the world outside of Hogwarts is slowly beginning to shatter too.
1. Chapter 1, Letters

**Chapter 1, Letters**

* * *

It was another of their stupid jokes.

It had to be.

They knew how much she wanted it; _he_ knew. She had been stupid enough to tell him.

She read the letter again. She looked at the shiny badge in her hand. She read the letter again.

She didn't know whether to laugh or spit.

That was the problem; the whole thing was horribly plausible.

It was too easy to forge a signature, and she was sure they could easily get hold of a badge. Yet, deep down, Lily had a feeling that it wasn't a joke.

She closed her eyes, swallowed and tried not to let the tears fall. The hardest thing to take was that it was her fault.

* * *

James looked at the piece of metal in his hand, 'Padfoot, you're a twat,' he said, lobbing easily across the room and into the bin.

Sirius looked up, 'Why?'

'That wasn't funny, not in the slightest,' he said grimly, going back to staring out of the window.

'What?' Sirius asked again, curiosity pulling him towards the bin to see what James had thrown, 'Bloody hell, Prongs!'

James didn't so much as blink, 'Leave it, Padfoot.'

He bent and picked the badge out of the scraps of paper nestling in the bin.

'I said, leave it,' James ordered, anger rising in his voice, 'It wasn't funny,' he said tensely, through gritted teeth.

'Prongs, mate, I didn't send it; none of us would,' Sirius replied, concern breaking across his handsome features.

James' head turned slowly and he stood up, anger burning off him in waves; sparks shot out of his wand.

Sirius stared, James really believed he'd sent it and he had his wand out, 'Look, Prongs, I-'

'ENOUGH!' James yelled, his face darkening with fury, 'I've had ENOUGH!'

Sirius almost replied stonily that Remus had once said the same, but kept his counsel instead.

For a moment tears brimmed in the seventeen year-old, hazel eyes, then he slammed down the mug he was holding. It shattered, but James was already striding across the room, slamming the door behind him.

He was gone.

* * *

**A/N: **Back at writing for a bit, going to use the next month to try and get Trust up and written how it was supposed to be. I'll make no promises though, I'll just do what I can.


	2. Chapter 2, Revelations

**Revelations**

* * *

The Hogwarts Express pulled away from Platform Nine and Three Quarters unhurriedly, leaving steam and smoke drifting amongst the families left behind. A red-headed girl marched down the train corridor, heading for the front and the Prefect's Compartment.

Lily Evans was starting her Seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Over the summer holidays she had received a letter signed by the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, inviting her to be Head Girl. The only problem with that was the person it had mentioned who would be Head Boy; and it couldn't possibly be _him_. It was simply impossible.

But with Professor Dumbledore, it wasn't quite, it was only improbable.

For the moment she was still unsure as to whether she really was Head Girl or whether they were setting her up for some kind of humiliating joke.

Now, she strode down the train, a silver badge emblazoned "HG" in her pocket and a hundred fears of what could happen if he really was the Head Boy. She hadn't even told her parents about the letter; what would she say if it wasn't real? And she could hardly write to the Headmaster and ask if the letter was really from him.

It was exactly the kind of thing he'd do as well; just mess about with her till she put on the badge and embarrassed herself when it wasn't her. But then she might actually be Head Girl and if anyone ought to know she was, she should. It was an impossible position to be in.

James Potter: the insufferable, impossible boy; he was screwing about with her even before she had seen him, let alone got to school. How she hated him.

She had to go to the Prefect Meeting anyway; she was still a Prefect at least. She wasn't looking forward to seeing Lupin either; he had stopped to talking to her ages ago, along with the rest of the Marauders, but that wasn't what got to her. It was the way he watched her; as though he knew what she was thinking and knew what she was going to do. Cool appraisal, as though she was some small, shivering creature in a field. She hated it; she had hated the way they had all turned their backs on her after what had happened.

She glanced into compartments as she passed, keeping an eye out for troublemakers whilst trying not to worry about everything. There were a few, "Hey, Lily!"s as she went past, dodging abandoned school trunks.

It took several minutes, but she arrived at the Prefect's Compartment, early as she had planned. The door slid open at her touch and revealed two young men. She almost did a double take as she quickly revised her thoughts, not young men; boys.

At first glance they were almost unrecognisable, as if they had somehow swapped bodies, or personalities or something. Then it registered.

James Potter and Remus Lupin were sitting in the Prefects' Compartment.

They were both dressed casually, not yet in their school robes but managing to look smarter than Lily felt in her immaculately ironed robes, and deep in conversation when Lily opened the door. The conversation finished as she entered and they both stood up to greet her.

Remus Lupin looked, for want of a better word, well. She had never seen him looking quite so… _full of life_. Or maybe it was just in comparison to the boy next to him. He smiled genuinely, when he looked at her, completely throwing her off guard, 'Hi, Lily, I suppose I should offer my congratulations.'

He held out his hand and Lily shook it awkwardly, though he seemed not to notice, saying, 'I'll step out for a minute, I'm sure you two'll want to sort out what's happening,' and without further ado, let himself out.

In the silence that followed Lily had a few seconds to appraise James Potter, the impossible boy who had put her in such a ridiculous position.

He looked ill and tired. He was pale and stood with an odd sort of stoop that straightened itself as she looked at him. A second later he stood tall and proud, even managing to look halfway like his normal self.

'I'm sorry about this, Evans, I really am. I thought Padfoot was having a laugh when I opened the letter.' He said with a wan half-smile.

He held out a hand, palm upwards and open, there was a small silver badge, emblazoned, "HB".

For a moment, Lily felt sorry for him, without knowing why.

'Congratulations by the way, you deserve it a lot more than I do.'

He sounded genuine.

He had always sounded genuine, that was the problem.

It was so James Potter it was unreal. Tall and pale and handsome, windswept black hair, well dressed, intelligent, rich, connected, Special Award for Services to the School, 'Marauder' and Quidditch Captain. Now he could add Head Boy to his list of achievements.

Just standing there, Lily felt second rate.

The silence grew a little.

His eyes were boring into her, waiting for her to say something. They didn't echo the smile that had graced his lips a few moments before, they didn't so much as glance down at her chest, they just watched her, inscrutably.

Polite silence began to form awkward silence.

Suddenly Lily realised she ought to say something, 'Are you really Head Boy?' she blurted out and immediately wished she hadn't.

His head tilted to the side slightly and he looked at her with a puzzled expression for a moment before realisation dawned, along with the implications, 'You thought it was a joke too? Because I was the other name,' he said answering his own question. Then he looked down at his feet and said something he had never said before, to anyone, 'I'm sorry.'

Lily couldn't believe it had taken her this long; this wasn't the boy who had harassed her for years, it wasn't the boy she had gone out with for months, he wasn't even the person who had finished Sixth Year at the start of the summer. He should have grinned and made some quip about it being a brilliant plan and that he would consider doing it next year too, just to mess things up a little after they had left.

He didn't though.

'I know you don't think I deserve this, Evans,' he began, 'No, don't try and say otherwise. I don't; it's a fact. But, what I do want to ask is; can we forget the past and let bygones be bygones. We both know it's going to be a hard year and we need to be able to work together,' he said practically.

Lily had thought she was over James Potter until a few weeks ago and the annual letter from Hogwarts had been like a sledgehammer on her heart. She had gotten close to him, finally realised he was a genuinely good person, discovered she wanted more than just friendship and then thrown it back in his face out of fear. The letter had brought it all back, along with the feeling of abandonment after he had just shut her out; leaving her no opportunity to even and try and begin again. It had been as though he always knew where she was at any given time and avoided her at any cost, though that couldn't have been possible and Lily knew it.

That was the worst part; even though she had never admitted it, it was her fault.

It had got even harder when she confronted him after Mary left and Mulciber had been expelled.

Nevertheless, here he was standing in the Prefects' Compartment on the train to Hogwarts telling her that she should simply accept the fact that he was Head Boy and get on with it. She still didn't even know if he really was Head Boy.

Then it clicked.

That had to be it, it was all a set up; Remus was a Marauder first and Prefect second, he had proven that last year and was just backing up James' claim. He hadn't changed at all; it was an act.

Then she realised she wasn't Head Girl.

'Who the _hell_ do you think you are?'

* * *

James stared as her face grew thunderous and he realised what conclusion she had drawn, 'Lily, I-'

She tried to turn away, but his hand came up automatically and stopped on her shoulder.

'Don't touch me, you… ' she cried, slapping his hand away, 'You arrogant bastard! What on earth makes you think that you can mess around with people like this!'

She was shouting now and James was doing all he could to try and stop her.

'Lily! It's n-'

'How could you do this? I almost told my parents I was Head Girl; what would I say now I'm not?'

James' stomach plummeted; she hadn't even told her parents, she thought it was _that_ fake.

'You're arrogant and cruel and horrible; Dumbledore would never, ever make such a god awful mistake! Even if you were and I was actually Head Girl, I'd resign; I can't believe I ever thought you were better than this. What the _fuck_ did your parents ever _do_ to deserve _you_? What did _I_ do?'

Something in his demeanour stiffened.

Immediately Lily regretted her words, but they had come out and weren't going to be unsaid. He stood even taller, his pupils contracted with rage and the fingers of his right hand twitched, making her glance down, afraid he was about to curse her. His jaw trembled with some great strain. Suddenly Lily was genuinely afraid that he was going to hurt her; not emotionally, but literally, physically hit her, or punch her.

Then, without any quip or parting shot, he walked out with an expression on his face that she had never seen before.

* * *

She hadn't expected it and she sat down suddenly, breathing hard as tears and disappointment welled up inside her; disappointment at herself for believing in their stupid prank, disappointment that she had once thought that James Potter was better than this and disappointment that she wasn't Head Girl after all. She sniffed, wishing she had never read the stupid letter and got her hopes up. She took the little silver badge out of her pocket and looked at it, then stood and went to the window, opening the little slot at the top to push it out and be rid of the humility it represented. No doubt Potter and his friends were having a right laugh at her expense.

Maybe that would have taught him to leave her alone in future.

'I wouldn't do that, Lily,' a voice spoke from the door, making her jump as she reached for the catch.

Sirius Black, James Potter's right hand man, best of friends, practically brothers, almost twins, stood in the doorway. There was a bruise down one side of his face.

'What are you doing here?' she demanded, still angry, hurt and upset.

'Just wanted to congratulate you on Head Girl, I meant to get here before-'

'Oh, ha ha, Black,' she snarled, 'Potter's already been here and proven he's still as much an arrogant berk as ever.'

Grey eyes considered her across the small space. Suddenly Lily felt a little afraid again.

'How was your summer, Lily?'

He seemed to be ignoring her statement, sounding perfectly friendly, but there was something hostile and unsettling in the way he was staring directly into her eyes. He didn't even blink.

'I… it was good, thanks,' she replied, feeling completely thrown. Why was Sirius playing along with this joke? She had obviously twigged.

'Good, good. He couldn't believe it either.'

'What?' Lily asked, completely out of her depth. Why was he staring at her like that?

Sirius was smiling, but there was something terrible in his eyes; something hostile and angry and very, very wrong, 'You're Head Girl and, oddly, Prongs is Head Boy.'

There was no warmth in those eyes now, yet his voice was as soft and calm as ever, like the calm before a storm.

'That was really nice by the way, Lily; I'm surprised at you. I thought you were better than that. He thought you were better than that. I guess even James is wrong sometimes.'

'What do you mean?' There was something frightening about the way he was looking at her; she'd seen that look in his eyes before, when the Slytherins were pulling out their wands. When had he ever called Potter, "James"?

'Look, Lily, I've been talking to him; really talking to him. He decided to let it all go; let _you_ go. He's giving up all the stupid crap we've pulled over the years; he just wanted to say sorry and ask if you might give him a chance just to be civil. He just wants to be able to get through this.'

He had moved closer and she could a grain of truth glittering in those grey eyes, and something else. She saw James again and realised there was something wrong; not the lack of robes, or the way he stood sort of hunched. He was pale; James Potter had never, ever looked pale in his life.

Sirius' manic smile had disappeared, 'I hate to tell you this, but you broke James; not just his heart. Him. As a person. He's gone; he's,' he stopped and sneer crossed his face, '_grown up_.'

He paused for a moment, considering his next words while Lily seethed with anger at his words, readying herself to a bruise to match on his other cheek.

'I don't think I'll ever forgive you for that. I don't think you'll ever forgive yourself.'

Those seven words deflated all the anger she felt. She sagged and he stepped backwards into the doorway,'I'm beginning to get the feeling you didn't know; I guess you don't read the Prophet much. His parents just died; Saturday, in fact. Parasitic Sporidiosis.'

Then he too was gone.

She stood and stared at the door.

A flood of different emotions threatened to overwhelm her.

She felt her face grow hot and knew she blushing crimson; this was worse than she had thought it would be. She had just told James… Oh God. It meant she _was_ Head Girl and that meant…

'Oh Merlin,' she groaned just as the first Prefects appeared for the meeting.


	3. Chapter 3, Challenge

**Challenge**

* * *

James was slumped against the window when Sirius arrived. Remus was watching James out of the corner of his eye and Peter was chewing his fingernails, nervous and unsure of what to do. Remus looked at his watch, stood up and left.

Sirius slid the door shut after him. He had known for a long time what would happen, longer than any of the others. It had had started badly and ended worse.

'She didn't know, Prongs.'

James didn't move. He just kept staring out through the drizzle flecked glass.

'She's going to have to talk to Moony in that meeting; he'll know what to say, he always does.'

James sniffed and turned to him, his eyes were rimmed with red and his skin seemed to be losing its colour, 'You don't get it, do you. It's not about her; I couldn't care _less_ about her.'

'That's not true,' Peter suddenly blurted out.

'_Shut _up, Peter.' Sirius snarled.

Peter actually flinched away from him, such was the vicious anger in his friend's eyes.

'I don't care about any of this. I just want _them_ back.'

His voice cracked as he finished the sentence and Sirius was there, arm around his friend as he lost control.

* * *

She rushed the meeting; setting another for Friday evening, as she couldn't remember anything of what she had been about to say. She dismissed them all after setting a schedule for patrols until Sunday and waited for them to leave so she could go, dismissing questions as to where the Head Boy was. Eventually the last few left and she was about to leave when Lupin stepped back through the door, 'So, Padfoot talked to you after your… error.'

Lily couldn't look at him, she had avoided his quiet gaze throughout the meeting and brushed away the questions of where the Head Boy was with, 'He'll be around later.' She felt awful. Black lived with the Potters. His eyes hadn't been glittering; they had been full of tears. James hadn't just looked pale; he had looked upset, grief stricken. Sirius had been right. How had she not seen it? She used to be able to tell if James was stressed from fifty feet away.

_ "What the fuck did your parents ever do to deserve you? What did I do?"_

Part of Lily wanted to say it wasn't her fault; but this boy was just as intimidating as the others. He loomed over her, even from the other side of the compartment; how had she not noticed that before?

He kept silent though until she had to say something, 'Yes,' she sighed, 'I suppose you know everything then?'

'I can guess. Padfoot shouldn't have dropped it on you like that though; it wasn't your fault.'

'I feel awful; is he alright?' Lily asked, concerned despite herself.

'Honestly?' Remus asked, looking her in the eye.

'Of course!' Did he really think she cared that little for James? He was still a human being.

'No. He's an absolute wreck. He's got no other family. Thankfully they left their own funeral arrangements. Padfoot and I just had to hold him upright throughout the entire thing. I've never seen him like this. He's not eating, not sleeping; I'm not even sure how he's still walking around to be honest.'

'Why are you telling me?'

'Because you used to care.'

Lupin's words were harsh, meant to hurt and they did. She had to clench her jaw to prevent herself from sobbing outright. Charlus and Dorea Potter, James' parents had probably been some of the nicest people she had ever met. Even James didn't deserve this.

Lily couldn't comprehend the change in Potter; normally he was the most controlled person in the school, of course he kept up appearances, but beneath it all he ran himself like a machine. Lily had known that for years, before… before…

'Now we're going back to school, anything could happen. We don't want you caught in the…' he searched for a word, '…crossfire.'

There it was again; only this time she identified it. That look in Sirius' eyes; the look in Lupin's eyes: the fanatic loyalty. She couldn't understand it, grief, sadness, yes; but what had James done to inspire his friends to this level of… of… she couldn't think of a word. Intenseness?

'Try not to mess him about any more than you have already.'

He said it kindly, but there it was; the truth in the open. The Marauders were laying the blame squarely at her feet, as if Black hadn't made that clear already. A hot tear trickled down her face as he turned away, closing the door softly behind him as he went.

* * *

The rest of the train journey was overcast with the confused mood of the morning, by the time Lily reached her friends they too had heard rumours that Potter was Head Boy and his parents had died, leaving him with no immediate family. Laura's Uncle, the closest relation that James had, had also gone missing at the start of the summer; several people had disappeared and it seemed as though very little was being done about it. The Ministry seemed to be acting far too officiously; with little being done but paperwork. Though a radical man had been promoted to Head of Magical Law Enforcement; one Bartemius Crouch and was now calling for greater powers for the Aurors in fighting the more radical supporters of the self-proclaimed Lord Voldemort.

Lily secretly thought that Crouch had the right ideas even if he seemed a bit extreme on some subjects; people should be given a trial no matter what, but she did think the Aurors should be given greater powers to protect the public.

It took her the best part of an hour to sum up the courage to go and apologise to James. It wasn't just talking to him, it was knowing that the other three would be there too; silently watching, judging.

* * *

James stared out of the window. What had happened? One day his parents had been happily enjoying their retirement and then they weren't. As far as James knew he was the first ever person to be made Head Boy without being a Prefect, but that didn't mean anything to him.

Torrential rain began to drum on the window; he stared at the vague trees and hills rushing past and lost himself in memories of his first broom ride, his Mother hugging and kissing him before he left for Hogwarts, his Father patting him on the shoulder and saying he thought that James was the best son in the world. He remembered Sirius turning up on the doorstep, him lying in hospital and telling his terrified parents that they couldn't possibly tell anyone he had been attacked by one of his best friends who was actually a werewolf.

His parents had always been there for him and now they simply weren't. They had ceased to be, ceased to exist; relegated to the past tense. He had cried and cried, and now when the pain got even harder to bear he couldn't cry any more. The tears wouldn't come. Life was unfair. Even Lily had shown her true feelings, despite his hope that somewhere deep down she might… What was the point even thinking about it?

* * *

Remus watched James sleeping, head resting back against the top of the seat where Sirius had gently moved it to stop him banging his forehead off the window as the train swayed. Peter and Sirius were now engaged in an epic chess battle; epic in the fact that ten moves in Peter still hadn't lost. Remus looked up from his book as he saw a figure appear at the door; it was Lily, she looked a mixture of terrified and grief-stricken. Remus smiled sadly and shook his head at her; mouthing, 'He's asleep.'

Lily just gave him a red-eyed nod and disappeared again.

Remus wondered what she had been going to say to James; obviously it would have been an apology and then he wondered how James would have taken it. With an incredible amount of indifference probably, considering his current state; even sleeping he looked terrible, nothing like Prongs who planned ridiculous pranks and led the Gryffindor Quidditch team to glory. It was foreboding start to the year and despite the warm compartment Remus suddenly shivered. Sirius looked up quizzically.

'Thought I heard a banshee.' he said and Sirius shrugged.

He tried to start reading his book again, but gave up as Peter lost the chess match spectacularly.

'Game, Moony?' Sirius asked, noticing Remus' lack of concentration on his reading.

'Why not?'

* * *

'So? What did he say?' Dorcas asked as Lily slipped back into the compartment.

'I didn't speak to him.'

'What? You mean you haven't apologised? Merlin, Lily, his parents just _died_!' Laura burst out, she hadn't been taking the deaths of her favourite Uncle and Aunt, however many times removed well either.

Lily, however, was on the edge of tears, 'H… He was asleep. God, he looks like he's ill or something! Remus said not to wake him up. I think it's the first time he's slept in days.'

'Oh.' Was Laura's brief response, crossing her arms and staring out of the rain battered window.

'Come here, Lily!' Alice said, standing up and reaching out her arms for the trembling Head Girl, 'It's not your fault; there's no way you could have known!'

'I know! But it doesn't stop me feeling like I've just stabbed him through the heart; Sirius said he'd given up on me, and that he was really going to try as Head Boy. I don't think he'll be quite as happy to give it a go now, will he? God, and I hoped this last year might be a good one…' Lily garbled as Alice gave her a tight squeeze and patted her on the back before letting go.

'Anyway, how's Frank?' Lily said with a sniff, wiping her eyes and desperately trying to change the subject.

Alice cottoned on and was happy to distract Lily with news of her boyfriend, 'He got into the Auror Academy! He's so pleased!'

* * *

The shuddering stop of the Hogwarts Express pulling into Hogsmeade Station woke James and he yawned, stretching his limbs across the compartment, 'Ah, that's the best kip I've had in-'

He broke off as he remembered why and didn't say anymore. He looked a little better now, at least in the lamplight and he took a small vial out of his pocket, broke the seal and drained it. Then he stood up, opened the window and let Orphea, his owl, out of her cage and into the night, 'See you later, old girl,' he whispered as she disappeared into the darkness and rain.

Sirius led the way off the train; they drew little attention in the darkness as the crowds surged around the carriages. They found the very last one in the line and Sirius and James stopped, staring at the odd creatures between the shafts; they been taught about them for O. but had never really expected to see one. It turned pale eyes on them and the two boys watched it for a few moments before Sirius shrugged and climbed into the musty carriage, James followed.

The thestrals were just another reminder.

All four were oddly silent as the carriage meandered up through the gates to the castle for their final year, each lost in their own thoughts. As they got closer though a change began to creep across James; he shifted slightly in his seat, he sat up, he began to look less tired, he was reverting back to 'James Potter', Marauder and Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. Even if it was only down to the potion he had taken. He had changed into his robes and looked every inch the Head Boy now; immaculately ironed robes, shining shoes, polished badges and even relatively tidy hair, relatively.

He ran a hand through his hair, faint colour returned to his cheeks and some of the void in his eyes was filled a little. By the time they were stepping down from the carriage, it was as though they were all different people. Gone were the grieving boys from the train, Sirius with his brutal honesty, Remus with his soft spoken logic, nervous Peter and the broken James Potter.

It had been boys who had climbed into the carriage, but the Marauders climbed out of it.

Padfoot stepped down first, surveying the last stragglers in front of them with grey eyes, his head slightly cocked to one side as though he was listening for something, nodding to himself when he heard whatever it was. Then Moony sloped out; long legs leading the way until he stood beside his friend, hands in pockets, slightly hunched shoulders and a hungry look on his face. His eyes swept over the castle lawns and he took a deep breath, breathing the cool scent after the rain. Wormtail was next and he was the first to smile, if only momentarily as his feet landed with a crunch in the gravel. Prongs was last; aloof and cold of eye, but something like the ghost of a faint grin hung about his lips as he looked up and clapped Padfoot on the back, 'Well, lads, one last roll of the dice.'

* * *

They received an odd mixture of welcomes as they walked in, Lily noticed; some people waved, some shouted, there were a few glares from people of various houses and oddly there were no catcalls from the Slytherins. Halfway along, Lily saw Rosier, glance up and nod once, but that was the full event of their entry; no magic, no explosions and no pranks. The Marauders came in without a word and they looked invincible.

It was hard to fathom the change in James; under the candles he didn't look young any more, not in the fresh-faced First Year sense of the word. He looked older, more mature and incredibly distant; it was as though he hadn't even noticed there was anyone else in the room. She supposed the death of his parents was leaving its mark.

'He looks different,' she heard Laura whisper to Alice.

'You probably would too.'

* * *

It was too easy to spot the girls who wanted a Marauder for themselves, Moony reflected, sweeping his eyes across the room. Padfoot and Prongs might have taught him to make the most of the wayside girls he met over the summer; the ones with whom a relationship couldn't last and he didn't have to explain himself to, but it still burned him that he could never have a magical girlfriend. Anyone he told about his condition, present company excepted, would run screaming and shouting for the nearest authority.

Maybe that was why he had resented Lily and Merlin-knows he owed Prongs more than his life. For the moment though he was content to let the world float by; when the current began flowing again he would take action. He owed James that.

If it came to it.

* * *

The new, awed First Years were brought in; tiny, shaking and decidedly damp after the windswept lake, even if the rain had stopped. Professor Flitwick brought the Sorting Hat forward on its stool and everybody waited. Then, after a moment of compete silence.

_I may be frayed, I may be old,  
But without delay, for I am bold,  
I'll regale the tale of Founding._

_Four sorcerers did seek to make,  
The world a better place;  
Brave Gryffindor, from mountain,  
Shrewd Slytherin, from fen,  
Kind Hufflepuff, from water's basin  
Proud Ravenclaw, from glen_

_The Four did seek to understand,  
And so did hatch a mighty plan,  
A school to build, and govern,  
And teach with their own hand.  
Gryffindor prized bravery and courage,  
Far beyond the rest.  
Slytherin thought: cunning and ambition;  
For what else drives the best?  
Ravenclaw sought wit and knowledge,  
For her students; blessed.  
But kind Hufflepuff, she took the rest,  
And made them fair and jolly,  
For when differences began to show,  
Therein lay their folly._

_For the Founders, once united,  
Soon became fore'er divided,  
For Slytherin said, "We'll take only those whose blood is pure."  
The others, howe'er, only wished for future more secure.  
But the damage was done,  
And fiery Gryffindor did deem to draw his sword,  
Thus did end a friendship,  
That had once been fore'er assured._

_In the years beyond,  
Each fell alone, in silence and in sorrow.  
Each remembering a time,  
When in friendship they did wallow._

_So I warn ye now, I warn ye ever,  
That though it is my duty,  
To split, to break, to rend apart,  
You ought ne'er forget the whole._

_So I will do all that I am able;  
I beg, I plead, I beseech, implore,  
That in the end ye stand still stable._

Lily stared at the Hat; never before had she heard such an odd song before. It bowed and froze back into its original position, leaving Lily wondering if it was trying to tell them something. She barely watched the First Years being Sorted, or listened to Dumbledore's speech, only coming out her reverie to note there was a new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. Apparently Professor Jenson had declined to continue for "personal reasons".

Dorcas was quick to tell her that she suspected Black had been sleeping with the ex-Professor. Lily merely arched an eyebrow at such a ridiculous idea.

* * *

'Well? What do you reckon?'

'About what?'

'The song.'

'It was depressing?'

'Yeah, but think about it; we know enough about the Founders already.'

'It can't be serious about that though. The Founders might have all been killed off after they parted ways, but that doesn't mean we're all going to die if we don't get matey with the Slytherins. I mean, my fist might get friendly with Avery's face if he doesn't stop looking at me like that, but that's about it.'

'I dunno; I could get pretty matey with Elaina over there, especially since I heard Wilkes likes her. Besides, look at the way the country's going; even my parents think Voldemort's got the right idea.'

'How d'you know that?'

'Dear old Mum sent me a letter the other day, pointing out how much of a better son Regulus is and how he wants to join Voldemort's crew when he gets out. He's a fool if you ask me.'

* * *

The meal ended and as Lily called out to the new First Years to follow her, she saw Potter slip out of the Great Hall after Professor Dumbledore. She gestured for Tom Hartly, a Sixth Year Prefect, to take the First Years up to Gryffindor Tower and made to follow James. But suddenly Sirius was in front of her, and as she looked up at his sombre face he shook his head slowly.

'I need to-'

'No you don't, Lily.' Sirius said softly, his eyes didn't seem to be agreeing with his words though.

'He's Head Boy; I need to know if he's talking to Dumbledore!'

'Not this time.'

She tried to push him aside, but it was like trying to push the Castle out of your way, he was solid after four years on the Gryffindor Quidditch team and a good six inches taller than her. She gave up and said irritably, 'Fine, if he thinks he's better than me, he can get stuffed!'

'Lily, he's doesn't think he's better than you. He doesn't think he's good _enough_.'

She stared at him, too many times today had Black dropped news packages on her with the utmost insensitivity; she put James going to see Dumbledore, and not thinking himself good enough together.

She gaped at him, 'James _Potter _is going to-'

She pushed him aside and ran for the door the Headmaster and the Head Boy had disappeared through.

'I didn't say a thing,' muttered the dark haired boy as his cold eyes watched her go. Sirius Black had never been one to float with the current.

* * *

'Professor Dumbledore, Sir!'

The old wizard finally slowed down, indigo robes ceasing to billow as he came to a halt, turning slowly to confront James. The Professor smiled kindly, a sad light in his eyes as the young man stopped in front him, 'Ah, James, my Head Boy! Congratulations on your appointment! And I am so sad to have to give my condolences for the loss of your _dear_ parents; better people would be nigh impossible to find. They will be sorely missed by many.'

Something flickered across James' face in an instant at the mention of his parents, then he stood up straight and said, 'Sir, there's something I need to talk to you about.'

'Indeed?' Dumbledore replied, frowning over the top of his spectacles.

'Yes, Sir. I'd like to resign as Head Boy.'

Dumbledore's expression became that of polite surprise, but James had the feeling the old man was just acting; he had a feeling Dumbledore knew everything that was going through his mind, 'That is a grave decision Mr Potter.'

'I know, Sir. I don't think I'm up to it.'

'Not up to it? Why, Mr Potter, how could someone like you not be up to being Head Boy?'

'I… I… Look at everything I've done here, Sir! I've caused nothing but trouble for six years!'

'You nearly led Gryffindor to victory in the Quidditch Cup last year, with a promising team for this year, I believe. You have kept your best friend's condition a secret and accepted him for what he is where others would have cast him out.'

James was doing his best not to gape but Dumbledore just continued, 'You saved Mr Snape from the same boy, when affected by his condition, at great personal risk.'

James was speechless; the Headmaster went on remorselessly, 'And you have achieved outstanding marks in every class since you have been here. Loyalty, courage, skill and perseverance are a powerful combination of talents to employ, Mr Potter.'

Lily came skidding round the corner, spotted James and shouted, 'You can't resign! I'm not doing this alone, James!'

Then she noticed who he was standing next to.

Professor Dumbledore merely smiled at her and said, 'Thank you Miss Evans. Congratulations to you as well! I was just discussing your duties with Mr Potter, shall we finish this… let's say Friday evening, shall we?'

'I…' James couldn't find the words; he was still astounded by the depth of Dumbledore's knowledge.

'Very good! I'll see you in my office at nine o'clock; the password is 'Sugar Quill'. Good night to you both!'

With those words he turned and swept away, leaving Lily confused and James still speechless.

But before he turned the corner, he looked back and said one last thing, looking over the top of his half-moon glasses, 'If it helps; consider it a challenge, Mr Potter.'

Then he was gone.


	4. Chapter 4, Diversion

**Diversion**

* * *

"_Consider it a challenge, Mr Potter."_

The old man's last words of the evening spun through James' mind, reaching corners he had forgotten existed. A slow, thoughtful smile spread across his face and he found himself nodding slightly, _a challenge_. For a moment he stood, considering his Headmaster's words and then he turned to the person standing next to him.

* * *

'What are _you _doing here?'

It wasn't just a question, it was an accusation. This wasn't the boy she'd seen asleep on the train that afternoon; he wasn't tired or miserable or defenceless. It was like running after a unicorn foal and finding the angry parent, and Lily knew from experience just how much damage that single horn could do.

'I…' she knew it wasn't fair to bring Sirius into it; that was an unspoken rule, 'I saw you go after Dumbledore and after what I said earlier, I thought…'

'You're lying. You always were a crap liar, Evans.'

'Fine, think what you like, but it _is_ my business if you're trying to resign as Head Boy,' she retaliated and for once in his life, James Potter looked a little awkward.

'Yeah? Well, congrats on that. I'm sure all of your dreams have come true,' he replied sarcastically, 'I know mine have.'

He turned and began to walk away, but stopped suddenly, hesitating. Lily half expected him to turn around and say something else, but he just stood there, facing away from her until she stepped forward and reached out to touch his arm. He turned, anger written across his face and Lily said what she had been trying to say all day, 'I'm sorry, James, I really am. I didn't mean what I said earlier, I was confused and upset. I'm truly sorry.'

The anger faded, his eyes became less stormy and instead a different emotion grew. He nodded curtly once and walked quickly away down the corridor.

Lily watched him go, angry and sad emotions whirling through, wondering if she had just been apologising for today.

* * *

'What did you say to Lily?' Remus asked suspiciously as Sirius caught up with him and Peter on the stairs.

'Just gave her a nudge,' Sirius replied, watching a Hufflepuff Prefect leading First years over Peter's shoulder until she noticed and blushed.

'What kind of nudge?'

'The kind that makes Lily realise she was wrong about him.'

'You mean you told Snape how to get through the Whomping Willow again?' Remus replied, half joking, half accusatory reminder.

Sirius' face hardened and he transferred his gaze to his friend, 'No. I mean the kind of nudge that's going to bring Prongs back.'

Remus almost felt himself blanching and tried to keep his voice under control at what Sirius was asking of him, 'It's going to take more than a nudge,' he said with only the slightest of strain.

'Yeah, well that's what happens when you have to block people out of your life to help a friend,' Sirius' tone was downright accusatory and it hurt Remus more than he thought it would; he had seen this point coming for a long time, knowing the blame lay at his feet.

Sirius' eyes were still fixed on Remus' as though he was trying to drill something out of him by sheer willpower.

'You can't pin this on me, Padfoot,' Remus countered, unconsciously baring his teeth.

'Oh? I don't know where to apportion blame?'

'Prongs! Where did you go?' Peter called loudly down the stairs as his friends' discussion grew harsher, he hated to hear them fighting, it made him want to scream at them for being so childish.

'-ck you, Padfoot.'

'Moony, I was there…' Sirius growled as James came bounding up towards them. Then it was over; they couldn't do this in front of James.

'What's up with you two? You look someone's been force feeding you Acid Pops.'

'I was just asking Moony here, when our next outing is,' Sirius replied tensely.

James looked at him oddly, and then said, 'Thirteenth, isn't it? Monday.'

Peter groaned loudly.

'Oi, Wormy, shush,' James chided him gently, he was looking forward to it; when he was a stag he didn't get all the complicated human emotions. Things were so much simpler; he could leave his worries and just live by pure instinct, barely any thinking whatsoever, 'So, what's the plan?'

'Can we go to the Forest; we've haven't been in for ages,' Peter asked hopefully.

'Sounds good, as long we don't go too near the Centaurs again, eh, Moony?' James grinned, knowing Remus' discomfort with the mythological creatures.

Sirius felt himself grin despite his mood and watched Remus do the same; did they all remember what had happened last time or was it that they couldn't bear to let Prongs know they had been arguing?

* * *

To anyone watching or listening, Peter had been the model of a good friend to James when he and Lily had broken up; he'd let James rant at him about how wrong Lily had been, and listened as James' silences gave away how strongly he felt about her. Then the Marauders closed ranks around their friend; where once they had been unapproachable, they became impenetrable.

Outside of the dorm they reverted to the epitome of what their facades had had the purpose of being; Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, the disguise that had never failed.

Deep down though, and Peter knew this, knowing also that he was a terrible friend for thinking it; deep down, he was secretly glad that Lily and James had broken up.

For three months he had watched them drift together, growing closer with every passing hour, leaving him with Remus and Sirius. He didn't envy James; but he had wished desperately that he would make time for them all. It wasn't the same when Remus was working and Sirius was off wandering the castle, maybe or maybe not with a girl.

It was only when James had drifted away, not entirely, but just enough to let them have a little space, that Peter had realised that James was the one holding them all together. Without James, Remus reverted to the quiet, studious individual who couldn't take a joke and Sirius became distant; snapping at him to stop chewing his nails or boisterously teasing him because he was bored. It made Peter nervous; scared that he was annoying Sirius and unable to concentrate on his work, worried that he should be working as hard as Remus but wanting to keep Sirius amused so that he wouldn't get snapped at.

All the things that James did naturally, Peter found incredibly hard; trying to write a Transfiguration essay and play chess with Sirius at the same time because Sirius had written his essay in half the time it took Peter. As a result his marks got worse and more than one teacher had asked him to do extra work to catch up; but he couldn't blame James.

Why wouldn't he bring Lily to spend time with them all?

Peter knew the answer to that one though; it was in the tangles of Lily's hair when they returned from wherever they had been and the way James' shirt wasn't entirely tucked in, tie askew.

More than once he had caught Remus practically glaring at them for no apparent reason as they walked down the corridors together, hand in hand. He had also seen the looks Mary sent Lily and the disapproving shake of her head when Lily wasn't looking. What was worse though was the way Snape had cornered Lily one day; practically shouting at her as to what she was doing with "Potter". Lily had nearly been in tears and Peter had hurried away to get Remus in case something went wrong; by the time he had got back though, with Remus in tow, they had both gone.

When James mentioned that Lily had been upset earlier at supper that evening, Peter had glanced at Remus, but he had carried on eating and no one mentioned it again.

People always assumed that because he wasn't very academic, that he was stupid. They also tended to make other assumptions as well; like they thought he was deaf. It meant he heard what people said about him; hanging around the Marauders like a spare part, "because they took pity on him". James had convinced him otherwise years ago; Peter saw and heard things others didn't, because they thought he was stupid.

He could hardly miss Moony and Padfoot arguing in front of him. He just wondered what would come of it.

* * *

That night was possibly the first night in all his years at Hogwarts that Peter didn't fall straight asleep when he climbed into bed. Everything had been changing recently and it had finally hit home that they only had a year left at school, even with McGonagall's career sessions last year.

The career sessions hadn't helped at all; they only highlighted the fact that Peter wasn't really designed for any job.

There was a year to go and then they would be unleashed upon the world.

Peter could see it already; Padfoot and Prongs would speed off like meteors across the sky to new heights of brilliance, while he… maybe he would try and catch some of the falling sparks. He knew his place in the Marauders, in the school; he needed them a lot more than they needed him. The question was; did the others know that?

That was the problem; he could never tell. Prongs seemed to assume that everyone else was just as brilliant as him, they just needed to realise it and maybe try a little harder.

He knew that eventually they would have to leave Hogwarts, but things were changing already; with Mr and Mrs Potter gone, James was being forced to grow up. Padfoot, as usual, simply took it in his stride, but he had noticed the gradual fear that was creeping over Moony; the same fear that had lingered over the pale, thin boy with the battered trunk just over six years before. The dream of school was ending and real life had to begin at some point.

Peter worried about his Mother as well, she had never been particularly happy, not since his Father had died, but he knew that Mrs Potter had seen her at least once a week to check up on her. Who would look after her now?

It was far into the night before Peter's snores filled the room.

* * *

Lily's head was spinning as she made her way up to Gryffindor Tower, alone.

She had never expected to start the year like this, not in a thousand years. She was so lost in thought that she jumped when she turned the last corner to the Portrait Hole and found Severus Snape leaning against the wall.

She didn't want to talk to him and she had made that clear last year.

'Lily?'

She ignored him.

'Lily? You might have ignored me all summer, but now as well?'

She turned, 'Ignored you all summer? You weren't even _there_, Severus! I saw your Mum and she said you were staying at your friends houses for most of it.'

Severus took a step back, eyeing her cautiously. This wasn't their usual mode of conversation.

'Look at you, Sev; all you've ever done is browbeat me into feeling bad about _my_ House and _my_ friends. Well, take a look at your own _friends_! Avery and Wilkes? At least Rosier is decent, even if the rest of you are-'

'Messed up?' he interrupted her tirade.

'I wasn't going to say that.'

He watched her with dark eyes, 'Whatever, Lily, I came to say sorry again about _that_, since you never accepted my apology before. But obviously you don't care. Congratulations on being made Head Girl, I'm sure you and that big-headed fool will be _brilliant_.'

With that said he left, leaving Lily in even more of a state than she had been already.

She climbed through the Portrait Hole, to the Fat Lady's, 'Are you alright, dear?' and crossed the Common Room as quickly as she could, hoping people wouldn't see the tears streaming down her face. She reached her dorm and flung herself into a bewildered Alice's arms, sobbing with the effort of holding in all the emotions that had been building inside her all day.

* * *

Remus stayed up in the Common Room and until everyone else had gone to bed, staring into the embers of the dying fire.

It was clear where Padfoot stood; firmly on James' side, whether James even knew there was a side or not. He couldn't deny the fact that he was right; he was at least partially to blame for James and Lily not being together, even wholly. Sirius' accusations had made him angry, mostly because they had the terrible ring of truth to them.

He wondered what James would have been like if he hadn't been there to distract him throughout the years with being a werewolf, trying to find a cure, becoming Animagi. What kind of people would they have been, even Davey Gudgeon would still be here; he would never have had the accident with the Whomping Willow if Remus hadn't come to Hogwarts.

Remus' life was ending; seven years of being included at school would end the moment he filled out an employment form. Rumours would begin to circulate and then the story would come out of how a werewolf had spent seven years at Hogwarts School and no one had known. He would become reviled by society.

Maybe it would be best to let go, accept his lot in life, then James, Sirius and Peter could have full lives, instead of the semi-half-lives they lead now, convincing the world that nothing was wrong.

_Nothing was wrong_. Remus smiled grimly at his own thoughts, if only people knew, if only they knew.

Maybe it wasn't time to float in the wake of others; maybe this was the last chance he had to forge his own path, a boat against the current. The question was; which way did he feel the wind blowing?

* * *

**A/N: **interested to hear thoughts on Peter's perspective and what people think of him.


	5. Chapter 5, Standoff

**Standoff**

* * *

'You know this Voldemort person?'

'Yeah?' James mumbled through a mouthful of morning porridge.

It was breakfast and of all the Marauders, Peter, strangely, seemed the most awake.

'Who actually is he?' Peter asked, considering whether strawberry or raspberry jam seemed more agreeable this morning.

'He's one of those 'new order' political types, I'm sure we've talked about this…' James replied before his next mouthful.

'No, I mean, who actually is he? What's his first name, who's he related to?'

'You know, Wormy, coming from you, that's a pretty astute question,' Sirius looked up, directing what appeared to be a strangely pleased frown at Peter.

Peter bobbed his head in acknowledgement and took the strawberry jam; it seemed like the safer option.

'And now that you mention it, I'm not really sure. Padfoot?' James seconded the question down the table.

'Ah, fall back on the old blood-traitor, eh, Prongs?'

'Your area of expertise,' James shot back with a knowing look.

'My darling mother would love you,' Sirius replied without thinking, and didn't miss the look that crossed James' face, 'But no, I couldn't really tell you anything about him. Though I swear I've seen his face before somewhere,' he gestured at a copy of the Daily Prophet open in front of Remus showing a thin, stern faced man.

James frowned, 'Actually, now you mention it. I know what you mean.'

Sirius shook his head, 'No idea where though. Moony?'

Remus turned the page, 'Nah, mate, sorry,' he replied without looking up.

Sirius frowned and said, 'Moony, would you shag Meadowes?'

'Yeah, mate,' came the automatic reply, followed by, '_What? _No!' as he looked up amid a burst of giggles from the girls a little further down the table.

'Knew you weren't listening,' Sirius said smugly.

'Oh, shut up, Padfoot, I'm trying to read,' Remus grunted, more than a little red and trying to butter his toast with one hand.

'Anything interesting?

'Universal Brooms are having trouble over the new Windburn; apparently Cleansweep are accusing them of stealing their prototype for the new Five Series.'

Remus may not have been on the Quidditch Team, nor the best on a broom, but he kept abreast of current affairs; after all, you never knew if what might be in the newspaper one morning would change the way you lived your life.

'Hardly surprising,' James commented, 'They're already going downhill.'

'Anyway,' Sirius began, swinging the conversation back to politics, 'I see Voldemort's still denying the existence of his "more extremist supporters"; apparently they've got nothing to do with him. Personally I can't see why Crouch doesn't just bag them all up and shove them off to Azkaban, then Voldemort can preach to them all he likes in there.'

James' shrugged, 'It's not necessarily his fault; he's pushing for some fairly decent reforms. There'll always some nutter who'll chuck a firework in the cauldron just to see what happens.'

'Yeah and last time people said that, Grindelwald ended up with half of Europe,' Peter pointed out.

Sirius stared at him, 'Merlin, Wormtail! You've been at the powdered dragon claw again, haven't you?'

Peter just grinned crookedly back.

Remus folded up his paper and pushed into his bag as James asked, 'Have they found that Thockley guy yet?'

'Nope,' he answered, 'his wife thinks he was having an affair though; kept coming home late and disappearing at odd hours.'

James frowned though at the unlikelihood of the Deputy Head of Magical Law Enforcement having an affair, 'I doubt it.'

The conversation broke up as McGonagall arrived, handing out their timetables, 'Yay,' Sirius muttered drily, 'Double Potions first thing, I think that has just made my life. You may kill me now to preserve this happy moment.'

'Speaking of fireworks and cauldrons…' Remus whispered out of the side of his mouth, 'Do we have to give up all the fun stuff this year?'

James was completely taken aback, 'Moony!' he cried delightedly as he stood up, 'I never thought you had it in you!'

'Prongs,' Sirius growled, 'remember what was said.'

Remus' eyes flickered between them as James' head shot round to face Sirius, then he looked at the floor sombrely, 'Yeah, I know,' then added with the slightest of grins, 'we'll just have make sure we don't get caught.'

* * *

'Morning, chaps and chappesses,' Slughorn called as they took their seats in the steamy dungeon air, with so few people continuing Potions, everyone in their year continuing was in the same class. Peter hadn't made the grade in his OWLs so one of the Marauders had to find a partner; Silvia Keitch had already taken the spot next to Benjy Fenwick so James sat down beside Alice Yates who had carried on Potions too. There were small cauldrons set at each working bench with a different potion in each, the one in front of James appeared to be shifting between a glowing red and a luminescent orange and smelt a little burnt.

'You alright?' he asked, sitting down.

'Not too shabby,' she replied, turning to face him, 'What did you say to Lily last night?'

'What do you mean?' was his guarded reply.

Alice gave him a knowing, unimpressed look.

'What?' James asked, already wondering if this was going to turn into a double lesson of inquisition techniques.

She just gave him a hard look and was about to answer when Slughorn shuffled past to start the class, moustache practically quivering with excitement and looking as though he had a very frightened dormouse hanging beneath his nose.

'Aah, your final year at Hogwarts and there is still so much left to surprise you with! Firstly, can anyone tell me what concoctions you each have in front of you?'

Snape's hand rose steadily into the air from over to James' right, 'We've got a Discernment Draught, Sir.'

'Yes, very well done indeed, five points to Slytherin.'

'Lily came back in tears last night.' Alice hissed out of the corner of her mouth, over Slughorn's blatant favouritism, 'and the last time I saw her before that, she was looking for you.'

'I didn't say anything,' James replied stonily, feeling his stomach twist guiltily.

Alice's eyes grew hard indeed as Slughorn cruised across in front of them, 'Phoenix Philtre, Sir,' James said before the fat Professor could ask them what they were talking about.

'Very good.' He pronounced, moving on towards Remus and Sirius.

'She was crying when she got back,' Alice stated.

James began to feel a little bit like a coward, but he held his head high, pretending to follow Slughorn's lecture on the properties of the gently fizzing solution in front of Syd Tollip and Will Darr that could only be described as mould grey.

Eventually he felt Alice soften beside him, 'James, I know this isn't the time or place to say it and I am sorry about your parents, but you don't need to lash out at people, even if she was out of line yesterday.'

* * *

'Now, you see how the-'

Lily stared as James suddenly slammed his potions book shut and stood up, stating loudly, 'I'm not feeling very well, Sir,' he picked up his bag and walked out of the room.

Slughorn stared after him for a moment and then sighed, shaking his head and muttering something that sounded like, 'Such a terrible waste…'

Then he straightened up, 'Well then, as I was saying-'

Alice glanced round her and shrugged, but Lily couldn't help but feel that it was somehow her fault. At the age of seventeen, James Potter had suddenly become an orphan; Laura's parents were now effectively his closest relations and they were his third cousins once removed on his grandfather's side or something.

She lost track of what Slughorn was saying as she realised that the Marauders were now the closest thing James had to a family. She also realised that she was not looking forward to the meeting they were to have with Dumbledore tomorrow evening; merely being near James made her feel uncomfortable at the moment. Having a meeting with just the two of them and Dumbledore would be close to unbearable.

* * *

'Damnit.' Sirius hissed as the door closed behind James.

Remus sighed, they didn't need this in the very first lesson of the year, he looked at Alice but she was concentrating very hard on what Slughorn was saying. She was also carefully avoiding the returning the curious gazes that practically everyone in the room was sending her way.

'This isn't going to work, Padfoot, if you mess about with Evans, of course her friends are going to start getting bitchy with Prongs.'

'Yeah, but I didn't expect Yates of all people to be the one who would do this,' Sirius growled a little too loudly, causing Alice to look round as she heard her name.

'I'm sorry!' she mouthed and Remus gave the merest shrug of his shoulders, but Sirius showed less emotion than a dungeon wall behind him.

* * *

James made it all the way back to the Entrance Hall before the breath he hadn't known he was holding in burst out of him and made him stop, gasping for air.

He swung between returning to the Gryffindor Common Room and marching out into the grounds, running for the Forest and disappearing for several hours. In the end he did neither; he simply walked, his mind a furious tumble of thoughts.

Everything to do with his parents was racing through his mind like a spinning, screaming kaleidoscope. That was the only thing though; he had barely thought about Lily Evans all summer, but since that damned letter had arrived he had been unable to get her out of his head. It was the memories of the disgusted, repelled look on her face as she thought she saw something that wasn't happening, it was the way she jumped straight to a ridiculous conclusion, it was the way she had failed to live up to his expectations in every single way that was important.

To top that he was supposed to be Head Boy, which he didn't have the faintest idea to go about doing, meaning he'd have to rely on his ex-girlfriend for help and he needed to sort out the Quidditch Team after their disaster of a defeat by Ravenclaw which had lost them the Cup at the end of last year. Then he had to sort out Moony and Padfoot before either or both of them did something stupid; like Padfoot telling Evans that he was going to resign as Head Boy. James had known it the instant she appeared, he wasn't an idiot and Sirius had been acting like a mother hen since he'd got the Head Boy letter.

Life, James realised, was a complete and utter bitch.

* * *

'Great, he's either in Hogsmeade or the Forest.' Remus snapped irritably, having spent fifteen minutes poring over the Marauders' Map, 'You'll have to go and find him, Padfoot.'

Sirius raised an eyebrow.

They had a free lesson after Potions and had filled in Peter on what had happened when he reappeared from Care of Magical Creatures.

'Not necessarily,' Peter mused.

The other two looked round.

'The Heads' Common Room doesn't show up on the Map either,' he pointed out.

'Because it moves around too much…' Sirius breathed.

'…and we can't get into it because there's no password.' Remus finished.

They all stared at the Map for a minute.

Then Sirius remembered the Head Girl was sitting in the room with them.

* * *

Lily stood outside the nearest broom cupboard to the portrait of the Fat Lady and tried not to feel nervous; Alice had confessed that she had been the cause of James storming out of Potions. Then the remaining Marauders had surrounded her in the Common Room after the lesson and pretty much demanded they be let in to the Head of Schools' Common Room. She hadn't been impressed; she hadn't even seen it yet.

They had told her that they were looking for James and Lily wasn't hugely impressed by this either. In Lily's view the Heads' Common Room was the one place the Marauders couldn't get to and that was a very good thing. The following conversation hadn't gone well.

_"He's a big boy now," Lily pointed out, "I'm sure he can look after himself."_

_ "I'll tell you that when your parents die, shall I?" had been Black's cutting reply._

Thus, Lily was standing outside a broom cupboard, hoping that she would be able to get into the Heads' Common Room. It was unlike any other of the weird secrets she had heard of at Hogwarts; the room moved, the whole room actually moved around the castle. You could access it from pretty much any non-classroom door in the school; obviously not the front doors to the Entrance Hall, but most others. All you needed was to be a Head Boy or Girl and put your hand on the door handle of the door, wanting it to be the Common Room when you opened it.

Lily had agreed to take a look, partly because she felt a little responsible for James, because of what Alice had said and partly because she wanted to see what the Common Room was like.

She steeled herself for trouble and opened the door.


	6. Chapter 6, Rosier

**Rosier**

* * *

Lily had had no idea what to expect when she opened the broom cupboard door; honestly, she had just expected shadows, cobwebs and bottles of Mrs Skower's cleaning fluid. She hadn't expected to half fall into a bright, sunlit room when the door swung lightly inwards.

She caught herself before she completely lost her balance and looked around.

She hadn't expected the wide, arcing windows that let the sunlight fall across the whole room, or the thick carpet which she felt sure she'd be able to dig her toes into delightfully if she took her shoes off. She hadn't expected the big, plush sofa and armchairs by the fireplace or the bookshelves that seemed to contain everything from Jorin Trout's 'Aquatic Magical Plants of Scandanavia, Volume Two' to Charles Dickens' 'David Copperfield'.

Looking around the room, one of the best things Lily noticed were the two desks; proper desks for working at. Not the tables that could be found in the Gryffindor Common Room or the Library, but proper desks, with chairs that suited them as well. Not having somewhere fixed to define as 'work space' had been one of the blights of Lily's Hogwarts career and now the problem was solved.

However, the most surprising things in the whole muddle of being somewhere she had never been before, was the view out of the windows and the boy sitting at the second desk.

Gryffindor Tower looked over the castle lawns from high above them, the broom cupboard just along from the Fat Lady was on the Seventh Floor and the door faced East, Lily was pretty certain of that. The view out of the windows though looked out over the Lake and that definitely wasn't East of the Castle, she was no longer on the Seventh Floor either; she could quite easily see the height difference from the ground.

She turned and looked back out the door; if she craned her neck, she could just see the edge of the Fat Lady's portrait. Magic could be really weird sometimes, she decided.

Finally she gave in, shut the door and turned her attention to the figure at the desk. It was definitely James Potter, no doubt about it. He appeared to writing though and had a couple of textbooks beside him.

Lily wandered across and looked over his shoulder at what he was doing; he was writing the essay that Slughorn had given them at the end of their double lesson, 'The Development and Properties of the Phoenix Philtre'. Lily's was to be on the Illusory Solution that had been at her table. James hadn't been there for Slughorn handing out the essay titles though; had the Marauders already seen James and told him, then just decided to muck about with Lily because they were bored?

` He suddenly seemed to notice her and looked up, 'Oh, alright, Evans?'

He looked at her curiously; not upset or angry or annoyed that she was interrupting him.

'Err, yeah, are you alright?'

He pushed a hand through his hair, 'Yeah, just getting on with Slughorn's essay.'

'But you weren't in the lesson?'

He shrugged, 'Slughorn sets up the same lesson and first essay every year, Soph-someone told me and seeing as I knew what the potion I had was, I thought I might as well make a start.'

Lily felt herself twitch as a name nearly fell out of James' lips, but he recovered it badly and continued anyway. A small candle of shame and anger lit itself somewhere in her stomach and she felt a blush beginning to start somewhere around her collar.

'Oh, right… well, I suppose that makes sense.'

Suddenly she wasn't entirely sure what to do; he wasn't angry or upset, just working. He'd taken a bit of risk starting it without confirmation of what the essay was or if there was even an essay to be written, but then that was James Potter all over; he even managed to make Potions homework a risky business.

She turned away and walked away towards the windows to cover the blush that was now spreading across her cheeks, 'It's a really nice view, isn't it?'

'Yeah, I hope it stays sunny this afternoon.' Was the slightly awkward reply.

And that was it; they were reduced to talking about the weather. What else was Lily supposed to say? She had apologised already; the Prefects' rotas had been sorted out for next couple of days and as the ex-girlfriend she could hardly ask if he was coping with the death of his parents. God, she still felt awful about it; she felt sad, she had known James' parents for all of a week but they had been great people. She wouldn't be surprised if he never forgave her what she had said.

She watched the slight waves lapping against the lakeshore for several minutes.

When she turned around James was gone; his books and partly written essay were still there, but he had obviously gone.

'Oh, well done Lily.' she said out loud to the empty room and left to go and get her book bag for her next lesson.

What she failed to notice in her agitated state, was that James' chair had also mysteriously vanished.

* * *

Sirius had been waiting for the moment James exited the Heads' Common Room and watched his best friend miraculously appeared outside the broom cupboard off the Entrance Hall, exactly as expected. He folded the Map away and made his way after the stray Marauder, using all of the secret passageways available to make the route as short as possible; they only had twenty minutes until Transfiguration started and he doubted McGonagall would buy that James was too upset to go to lessons.

* * *

He couldn't stand it.

Just being near her gave him a pounding headache.

Normally his mind was awash with a hundred ideas, thoughts and revelations, and he rode it like a wave; barely able to keep track of the thoughts he wanted to hang on to. Being in that room with her though; he wanted to shout, yell, scream at her and that controlled wave became a mindless storm. A storm of bloody emotions that wouldn't give an inch either way and the conflict was tearing his head apart.

Throwing caution to the wind, he threw down his Father's Invisibility Cloak on the very edge of the Forbidden Forest and transformed.

If anyone had been watching, they would have seen a full grown stag leap out of thin air.

Everyone was in lessons though, and no one saw Sirius Black sprint down the lawns and charge heedlessly into the Forest.

* * *

Sirius stalked the corridors in a haze of worry and anticipation. Worry because he was afraid that James was falling apart at the seams and anticipation because that meant that anything could happen; his nerves were so highly strung that just being around Peter was making him snap unfairly, so he decided to go to Honeydukes and nick some chocolate from the cellar. Hopefully it would take the edge off.

He turned a darkening corner and a small someone cannoned off his chest, tumbling backwards and hitting the floor in a tangle of dark curls, a loud, 'Oof!' A rather sickening crack also accompanied the thuds of several books hitting the floor and the clattering of several bottles of ink. A sharp intake of pained breath followed the, 'Oof,' and Sirius immediately lit his wand.

Golden light filled the corridor, revealing a girl with a cascade of dark, pre-Raphaelite curls. He recognised her as being two years below him; one of the pureblood Ravenclaw families, but he couldn't put a name to her. She'd never stood out from the crowd as a potential girlfriend, so he had never cared, not that he ever really managed to. Now, she was sitting up on the uneven floor and clutching what was clearly a broken wrist, and it was badly broken.

Bouncing off Sirius' chest she had clearly fallen backwards, putting out a hand to break her fall, but her hand had caught the bottom of a statue of Gregory the Smarmy, pulling it round at a sharp angle. Curls fell away from her face as he knelt down quickly beside her, revealing tears welling up as she stared in shock at the twisted joint, her breathing becoming quick and forced.

'Oh, Merlin,' she whispered between choking breaths as Sirius raised his wand.

He didn't know what it was, but something stirred within him as he blurted out, 'I'm so sorry, I didn't see you.'

She looked up and met his eyes, blue meeting grey as a single tear spilled down her cheek, fear crouching behind the pain.

'I'm sorry, but I need to get you to the Hospital Wing and this is going to hurt,' he had no time to explain what he was about to do, but with several years of experience he conjured a splint and bandages around the wrist, not setting but pulling it straight.

She let out a pained gasp and turned a little paler, but didn't cry out.

'Can you stand?'

He tried to help her to her feet, but she was weak-kneed with shock and would have collapsed if he hadn't simply picked her up, cradling her across his chest like a child. Maybe it was the sudden adrenalin in his blood, but she barely felt any weight at all.

'M-my books,' she managed to stutter before tears finally overcame her.

'I'll get them later,' he promised, shushing her in what he hoped was a soothing way and moved off quickly in the direction of the Hospital Wing, the girl clutched to his chest like a bird with a broken wing.

* * *

'Miss Pomfrey!' he called, barging the door open with his shoulder, 'There's been an accident.'

* * *

'Sirius, _really_! What did you do this time? And at this time of night…'

Miss Pomfrey might have sounded rather harsh to anyone who didn't know her, but Sirius had been through the Hospital Wing several times and knew she cared deeply about her young charges.

'Oh, dear, what have we done? It's Catherine, isn't it?' she asked, concern overcoming her as he gently put the girl down on an empty bed.

'Broken wrist, we bumped into each other and she fell awkwardly. It was my fault,' Sirius stated as the girl began to shake with shock.

Miss Pomfrey raised an eyebrow at the hasty splint and removed it carefully as the girl winced, 'It wasn't your fault; I wasn't looking where I was going.'

'Sirius, can you leave us for a moment, I'll need to set this and get it bandaged up. I'll let you back in once I'm done.'

Sirius nodded, whispered, 'I'm sorry,' and walked away towards the door, something strange stirring in his chest.

Ten minutes ago he couldn't have picked her out in a crowd, five minutes ago he had thought her rather plain, now he was slightly in awe of her. As he had rushed to the Hospital Wing the curls of dark, silky hair had fallen back, revealing a pale, heart-shaped face. She wasn't perfect by a long stretch; her mouth was maybe a little too wide and her nose a little too small, but right now she was the only thing in Sirius' mind.

He closed the door behind him and went to fetch her books.

* * *

Catherine… the name rung a bell somewhere in his mind, Cath… Cath Rosier, Rosier's little sister. Ravenclaw, Fifth Year. Peter had once said she was quite pretty, he had been wrong; she was the most beautiful girl Sirius had ever seen.

'Where the hell have you been?'

Apparently Remus wasn't in a good mood.

'Had a bit of an accident,' Sirius replied, sounding strangely preoccupied and clutching a couple of ink-stained books in his left hand.

Remus' glare faded slightly and the rest of his face relaxed somewhat, 'Sorry, mate,' he said tersely, 'I need the Map though, Prongs has disappeared again.'

'Oh, right…' Sirius muttered, automatically handing it over, having only registered the first half of the statement.

'What's up? You sound like you've been confunded.'

'Nothing… nothing, just dropped a bottle of ink on this lot.'

Remus frowned at him and watched him until he reached the stairs to the boys' dorms and disappeared from sight.

* * *

Remus waited until Sirius had gone, then left the Common Room via the Portrait Hole, quickly found a hiding spot and opened the Map. After a few minutes of rapid perusal, he came to the conclusion that James was either in Hogsmeade, deep in the Forbidden Forest or in the Head Boy and Girl's Common Room, none of which appeared on the Map.

He sighed and went back to the Common Room, picked up the book he had been reading and went to bed. Wherever James was, he didn't want to be found and therefore Remus wouldn't be able to find him.

Sirius' bed curtains were shut, but Remus could see wandlight through a gap. He didn't badger the other Marauder though; none of them were quite on top of things at the moment, and Charlus and Dorea Potter had been nearly as much Sirius' parents as James'.

James reappeared at some point during the night, as he was there when the Marauders woke up, although no one mentioned his disappearance the night before. Sirius still seemed a little out of it, taking even longer in the shower than usual and completely missing James' question of what their first lesson was.

It wasn't until breakfast though, that anything really unusual happened.

* * *

The rolled newspaper thumped down on the table in front of Remus, who promptly paid the owl and unrolled it, causing several people nearby to crane their necks at the front page.

Blazed across the headline was:

"_**Diagon Alley Riot leaves three dead."**_

Below was a black and white picture of the street from the Leaky Cauldron end; several shop windows were still blazing and rubble was strewn across the pavement.

"_Yesterday evening a peaceful protest against the Blood Declaration proposals turned violent after stones were thrown by incensed protestors and wands were drawn shortly afterwards. Magical Law Enforcement Officers keeping an eye on the protest were targeted. The arrival of Hit Wizards caused some of the crowd to disperse, but the more extreme elements of the crowd stayed for a fight._

_The protest, turned battleground, lasted nearly an hour and wasn't until Aurors arrived on the scene that the chaos ended. Two members of the Law Enforcement Squads were killed in the action and a single body was removed from the scene by Aurors, although another man was arrested by Auror Alastor Moody; one Acacio Carrow. Auror Moody was heard charging Mr. Carrow with the use of an Unforgiveable as the reason for his arrest._

_Calls have already been for tighter restrictions regarding protests, led by what is now being called the Voldemort faction of the Wizengamot, in the interest of public safety. When questioned about members of his more extremist supporters joining the rioters, the Wizengamot member merely answered that perhaps the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had become too lax lately._

_(For more information regarding the alleged corruption of top Magical Law Enforcement Officers, turn to page 6.)_

_The Law Enforcement Officers killed have not yet been named, although their families have been notified._

All across the Great Hall students were gawping at the morning headlines as those of who received the Daily Prophet became the centre of attention. Things were no different on the Gryffindor table as at least ten people tried to read the article over Remus' shoulder.

'Bloody Hell!' a sixth year exclaimed behind him as several others asked for the article to be read out.

'Acacio Carrow…' Peter murmured, 'Weren't there a couple twins called Carrow in Seventh Year when we were in First Year?'

James shrugged, leaning across Sirius to remove the sports pages from the back half of the paper.

'They had to call in Aurors?' a voice behind them asked loudly.

'Where's Ant Fleckwood?' Peter asked suddenly, looking across at the packed Ravenclaw table, 'Doesn't his Dad work for the DMLE? You don't think…'

He trailed off and an awkward silence fell across the immediate vicinity as those nearby turned to try and spot Ant.

He wasn't there. Neither was his sister; Iona Fleckwood, a Fifth Year Hufflepuff.

'Black, could I have a word with you.'

Their whole section of the Gryffindor Table looked up; Evan Rosier, with a glittering Prefect's badge perched on his lapel, was standing behind the Marauders.


	7. Chapter 7, Aggregation

**A/N: **due to unforeseen consequences of a foreseen event I have been unable to update for a while... now have internet again.

* * *

**Aggregation**

* * *

Black shrugged and stood up, Lily despite the shock of the morning news was suddenly incredibly aware of how similar the two boys were. Then she realised they were probably related somewhere down the line; both purebloods, both from predominantly Slytherin families, both apparently extremely rich. She knew though that Sirius had effectively been disowned by his family.

They were the same height, same build and had the same proud, haughty features, although Rosier's hair was neatly combed in a side parting. Something at the back of her mind registered that Laura used to have a crush on him; then she wondered how Mary was. It had never been proven nor had anyone ever spoken about it, but she and many others assumed that something had been going on between Mary and Evan Rosier before Mary left the school.

She turned back to her breakfast and the front page of the Daily Prophet that Remus, fed up with the onlookers, had torn off and was now being passed around. Alice was staring after the two boys with something like suspicion on her face.

'What's wrong?' Lily asked, before spooning porridge into her mouth.

'Nothing,' Alice said quickly, returning to her own porridge and snatching the front page from Laura so she could read it.

Suddenly faced with a wall of newspaper, Lily frowned and turned to Dorcas who promptly asked, 'Why does Rosier want to talk to Black?'

'No idea…' Lily shrugged.

* * *

'So you just bumped into her?'

'Yeah, we both came round the corner at the wrong moment. It was just an unfortunate _accident_.'

Rosier's eyes didn't leave his own and for a moment Sirius wondered wildly if Rosier was trying to read his mind. He met brown-eyed suspicion with a slate grey wall of honesty; Rosier wasn't about to try and fight, that wasn't Rosier's way. Rosier was far more intelligent than the other Slytherins in their year and it showed in the way he rarely hung out with them. As far as Sirius was concerned, Rosier should have been in Ravenclaw with his sister.

After a silence that stretched for several seconds, Rosier nodded, 'That's what Cath said, she also said you apologised.'

'I did.'

A rare smile formed across Rosier's face, it was in danger of becoming a grin, 'Sirius Black, of the Ancient and Noble House of Black, apologising to my little sister; the world must be turning on its head.'

Sirius did grin at that; Rosier had never been a problem to the Marauders, not like the rest of his house, 'Don't count on it happening again,' he stretched out a hand, 'I am sorry though.'

Rosier considered him for a moment and then shook his hand, 'Thanks for taking her to the Hospital Wing, I know a few others who would have just left her,' he glanced through the open door of the Great Hall to where the end of the Slytherin Table was just visible.

'Evan, you're not having a go at him, are you?'

A slight figure had appeared in the doorway capturing Sirius' attention immediately. Both boys turned and said, 'No,' at the same moment.

For the first time Sirius took in the full effect of Catherine Rosier; slight, but not small she advanced towards them with a small smile and open arm to receive a half-hug from her brother, 'It was an accident, Evan, we bumped into each other and I fell, nothing more. He did take me to the Hospital Wing as well; I felt rather like some medieval damsel in distress.'

A real smile grew on Rosier's face and for a moment Sirius had the impression that he could have been James' brother, if only he showed emotion other than his customary blank neutrality, 'Yes, but you wouldn't have been a distressing damsel if Black hadn't knocked you down.'

Rosier's tone was joking though as his little sister pulled her sleeve up a bit to show the bandages round her wrist, 'Miss Pomfrey says I have to keep these on till tomorrow.'

'Mr. Rosier! A word, if you would!' Slughorn had appeared on the steps leading up from the dungeons.

'Right, well, hope your arm's alright, Cath. Black, if you hurt her again, I'll kill you.' Rosier finished the conversation with a smile. His eyes said a little more than that though.

Sirius had never crossed Rosier and didn't intend to any time soon; it could only end badly for everyone involved. That didn't mean he was scared of him, not at all, but it did mean respect was due.

Cath blushed furiously even though her brother's tone was light once again and he reached out to shake hands once more before joining Slughorn on his way to breakfast.

Suddenly Sirius and Cath were alone and for once in his life, Sirius was inexplicably at a loss for words. Cath stood awkwardly for a moment, watching him expectantly for several moments before he remembered, 'I've got your books here somewhere,' he said quickly, searching his pockets and pulling out a couple of miniature books, free of ink stains.

He handed them over, letting them return to their natural size as Cath studied them with concern, 'These aren't my books.'

'Sorry about that, I couldn't get the ink out, so I got you some new ones.'

She flicked through the pages and frowned, 'How did you…? This one's been written in.' she accused.

He merely nodded though, 'Just a couple of helpful notes; you'll understand when you get round to exams.'

'How did you get new ones? You really didn't have to!' Surprise and confusion was strewn across her face.

His grin only widened though, 'With a little help from Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs,' he said tapping the side of his nose, 'Consider it an apology. Anyway, I'll see you around.'

He began to walk past her, but she blocked him by wrapping her arms around him in a brief hug, before stepping back, looking more than a little embarrassed with herself. Then she turned and fled to the Ravenclaw table and her friends.

* * *

Rosier came back after only a minute or two, deep in conversation with Professor Slughorn, but Black had vanished. She continued eating her toast, wondering why Rosier would want a word with Black, of all people; he wasn't a prefect, they didn't socialise, in fact they had almost nothing in common.

Then Rosier's little sister came scampering into the Hall and Lily had an epiphany.

A lot of people didn't notice the blushing Sixth Form girl and continued to discuss Rosier and Black or the riot that blazed through Diagon Alley. Lily worried about the implications of both for a moment, sipping the remains of her tea, until she saw Potter getting up to leave and pulling something out of his pocket.

She hurriedly gulped the last of her tea, grabbed her bag and left the table. It was Friday and they had both a Prefects' Meeting this evening and a meeting with Dumbledore at nine o'clock. They had a lot to sort out before then.

* * *

'Mischief Managed,' James muttered quickly and stuffed the Map out of sight as the door opened and in walked Lily. In a brief glance he had been unable to find Padfoot, which irritated him considering how quickly Padfoot had found him in the Forest yesterday.

She gave him an odd look, showing that she had heard him speaking to himself in an empty room, but merely asked, 'Are you free this afternoon?'

It was his turn to give her an odd look; they had the same timetable, even she must have been able to work that out. He didn't have any new players to have to adjust to his Quidditch team so there was no need for a repeat of last year's rush training sessions either. That left one more option; she assumed he was going to muck about with the Marauders this year just as much as in other years.

By mucking about, he knew exactly what she thought as well; wasting his and other peoples' time. That had never been true of the Marauders.

Sure, they pulled off the odd stunt or prank. Never though, had they disrupted the library, well not during an important part of the year at least, or stopped others from working. Yeah, they messed about in the Gryffindor Common Room, but everyone had the option of going to the library instead.

He turned this over in his mind and saw how she might view that, with a little bias added in. In Lily Evans' view he didn't deserve to be Head Boy, she hadn't heard Dumbledore's small speech in the corridor and she cared even less what his thoughts were on the subject. Though after yesterday that was open to interpretation.

'Meet here after Defence Against the Dark Arts?' was his reply; he didn't feel the need to point out that she obviously knew he would be free this afternoon, it would have just devolved into an argument and right now he frankly couldn't be arsed.

She bit her lip but nodded nevertheless.

'Great, now if you don't mind me wandering off, I need to go find Padfoot.'

She shook her head, sending a red cascade twirling around her neck. It took all the effort James could muster to walk past her to the door.

* * *

Lily wondered what had been going on behind that blank mask of expressionless indifference that was so similar to Black's usual expression as the door closed gently behind him.

* * *

Remus was worrying again and it was beginning to tell on even him; forever being laid back was an image he had managed to project for years and now it was wearing thin. So much for his float with the current speech to himself; he wasn't happy to float, he didn't even like swimming. He was doer; for all his words to Padfoot and Prongs over the years about wanting a quiet, normal student's life, he now found he couldn't stand it.

Padfoot was completely out of it and Remus was beginning to actually suspect he _had _been confunded; he was walking around with what was almost a smile on his face. Well, not a smile, but at least enough of an upturn on the corners of his lips to show that the rest of the indifferent mask was a façade.

Prongs too had disappeared off somewhere with the Marauders' Map which was bloody useful too, because it meant that Remus couldn't find Sirius and examine him. Not that he and Padfoot were really on talking terms right now; Wormtail had pointed out earlier that they were pulling in opposite directions and if they carried on like that, then something was going to snap.

Privately, Remus had wanted to punch him for saying it out loud, but instead he had just shrugged and walked away, leaving Peter alone in the corridor. He had the feeling that Peter had sided with Padfoot and that meant that he, Remus, was at the bottom of the food-chain. The most irritating thing though was the fact that he knew he was in the wrong and right now there was bugger all he could do about it except try and keep the peace; he wasn't Padfoot, he wasn't about to mess with people's heads. After all that was what had screwed everything up in the first place, wasn't it?

* * *

Lily arrived back at the Heads' Common Room around five o'clock, she had stayed behind after Defence to ask the new Professor Doneghan about the format of the NEWT written exam and how much of it was essay based.

The door opened noiselessly and she once again found herself watching James Potter at work, knowing she would never get used to the idea.

* * *

**A/N: **Short chapter, I know, but should begin to kick off after this one; is simply how the plot runs.


End file.
